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Crime, Russia, Incidents

A terrorist attack took place at the Baksan hydroelectric power station in the North Caucasus, Russia. Photo from website kbf.rushydro.ru

The guards violate safety rules at the Baksan hydroelectric

According to official reports, the head of extra-departmental guards of Kabardino-Balkaria’s Interior Ministry has been dismissed in connection with the terrorist attack that occurred at the Baksan HPS. It is also reported that the slain station officers were asleep at their posts.
  
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia, Rashid Nurgaliyev, has made the decision to dismiss the official. As the guards fell asleep on duty, they have violated the security rules, therefore, they have to blame themselves. Moreover, one of the guards was sleeping in the car, the other – on duty.
  
The country's leadership earlier promised to fire all the law enforcement and power facilities authorities if such an attack happens again. An order to make within a month a single security system of power facilities in the North Caucasus has been issued.
  
The company RusHydro is to provide relief for the families of the deceased guards: the families of those killed will receive 1 million rubles. The families of the two employees who were injured will receive 500,000 rubles.
  
According to new data, in the engine room of the HPS there were not 2 but 6 explosive devices installed, of which 5 detonated, and only one was defused by sappers who arrived later.
  
After the blast, a criminal case under the Criminal Code article ‘sabotage’ was initiated.
  
Earlier
  
In Kabardino-Balkaria, power in the Baksan HPS has been partially restored. This is stated in a message posted on the website of JSC RusHydro.
  
"The Baksan hydroelectric continues works to restore power for its own needs. At present, the 110 kV TSN transformer is switched on into a regular circuit, the charger power and the primary lighting of individual sections of the station are restored and works to rebuild communication are under way", the report says.
  
According to RusHydro, there are no restrictions for electricity consumers.
About 40 people are involved in the restoration works at the hydroelectric.
 
As previously reported, the first explosion occurred at 4:20, the second – at 6:00 am Moscow time. Besides, several other explosive devices were found at the station. After the second explosion, a fire started in one of the hydrogenerators. Firefighters managed to cope with the fire only after the third object had been cleared up.
  
At the station, two extra-departmental guards were killed and two people were injured. It is reported that after they received medical care, one of them went home, and the other victim was hospitalized. An operative investigation group, composed of members of the Republican Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigations Committee of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation, arrived at the scene.
  
The area of the blasts is cordoned off by the police and HPS officers. It is reported that the fire has already been extinguished.
  
It is worth noting that the Baksan hydroelectric station is one of the oldest hydroelectric stations in Russia. It was built in the 1930s on the river Baksan in Kabardino-Balkaria. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Baksan hydroelectric power station has been under reconstruction.
  
As reported before, there was a major incident in Kabardino-Balkaria. Two explosions went off simultaneously at the Baksan hydroelectric.
  
It is reported that two intruders had slipped to the territory of the station. They shot the guard and mined the generating unit.
  
"There were two attackers. They mined all three generators, two blown up, the third is being demined. A few other objects were mined at the station, too. Now sappers are neutralizing the devices", – said a source in law enforcement.
  
Currently, there is a fire at the HPS. Firefighters cannot begin to extinguish the fire until the third generator has been demined.
  
The HPS area is cordoned off by the police.
  
Video on the topic:

The explosion at the Baksan hydroelectric